BASIC SCORING AND HANDICAPPING
Scoring and handicapping sailing regattas and series is not particularly difficult or time consuming unless one chooses to reinvent the process on the fly. In the interest of less re-invention and more relaxation, SAIL has assembled and publishes of this basic system. Here, you will find the instructions, formulas, and forms, and most of the handicaps to score any event.
What is Scoring?
Scoring is the system by which you determine who won the aggregate of 2 or more races given the ranking of boats in each race. US SAILING has included two systems, “Low Point” and “Bonus Point” in Appendix A of the Racing Rules of Sailing. This appendix covers points awarded for finish position, tie breakers, discards, and possible redress awards.
< The “Low Point” system is a straight-line system that awards points based on the “number of boats that beat you”.
< The “Bonus Point” system is a curved line system that regards the top six positions with progressively greater point differentials.
In both systems, boats are ranked by from low to high; lower is better.
Appendix A also discusses scoring of series longer than a regatta; specifically, A9 differentiates between boats that “come to the starting area” and those that do not; and scores those groups differently. For shorter series or regattas, A4.2 applies -- unless modified by the sailing instructions -- to give all boats that did not start and finish a race the number of entries plus one point.
Other scoring systems used are:
< The “High Point” system is another straight-line system, but awards points based on how many boats you beat, which rewards the winners of large fleets more than the winners of small fleets. It simplifies scoring of long series where some boats miss many races.
< The “Cox-Sprague” system is a curved-line system that takes into account both the number of boats you have been beaten by and the number of boats you beat.
These latter two systems are documented in the Race Management Handbook and Yacht Race Scoring by Bemis, both available from US SAILING.
Computerized Scoring:
Today, computer programs have been developed to take much of the drudgery out of scoring. Results can be calculated & printed in a fraction of the time required for paper, pencil, & a calculator. For a review of various programs available, visit www.ussailing.org.
Sailwave
Sailwave is a popular sailing scoring program for Windows and the one most commonly used in the SAIL region. It is used internationally at all levels of the sport; from club racing to regional/world championships. Flexible publishing tools allow results to be targeted to web browsers, web-sites and email destinations. Functionality is based on ISAF RRS 2001-2004 Appendix A with additional multi-fleet and Appendix KE capabilities. Emphasis is on ease-of-use. Although primarily used at sailing events, Sailwave is also used for windsurfing, ice yachting, land yachting and model yachting.
SailWave can be downloaded from www.sailwave.com.
Handicapping
Almost all handicapping that takes place within SAIL is done by applying either US SAILING’s Portsmouth Yardstick system or US SAILING’s Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) system, using SAIL PHRF (or locally assigned*) handicaps.
Portsmouth Yardstick
The Portsmouth Yardstick is a nationwide handicapping system published and maintained by US SAILING. It contains handicaps for almost all production dinghies, keelboats, multi-hulls, and sailboards. Handicaps are statistically derived from the results of thousands of boats racing in hundreds of regattas in various conditions over the course of the previous year.
A Portsmouth “number” is a factor which, when multiplied by elapsed time, produces corrected time. The Portsmouth numbers for each boat vary depending upon wind speed to provide equitable racing.
PHRF
The Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) system provides handicaps for self-righting boats that are adapted to the conditions prevalent in the locale. Each PHRF fleet has a locally elected or appointed handicapping organization responsible for administration, handicap determination and appeals.
The fundamental PHRF “number”, in seconds per mile, is multiplied by the length of the course to produce a time allowance, which is then subtracted from elapsed time to produce corrected time. There is only one handicap for all conditions. (SAIL’s PHRF Fleet will be discussed in detail later.)
PHRF Time Correction Factors (TCF) are Time on Time factors produced by applying one of several formulas which differ in their “center” (where TCF=1) and proportionality.
2005 Sailwave Portsmouth Handicaps (CSV file) Right click then click save
For assessing Portsmouth Handicaps in Sailwave it is necessary to input wind strength here is a brief explanation of the Beaufort Scale
| Beaufort Scale | |||
| BN | Knots | MPH | Description |
| 0 | 0-1 | 0-1.7 | Calm |
| 1 | 2-3 | 1.8-4 | Light Air |
| 2 | 4-6 | 4.1-7.4 | Light Breeze |
| 3 | 7-10 | 7.5-12 | Gentle Breeze |
| 4 | 11-16 | 12.1-18.9 | Moderate Breeze |
| 5 | 17-21 | 19-24.7 | Fresh Breeze |
| 6 | 22-27 | 24.8-31.6 | Strong Breeze |
| 7 | 28-33 | 31.7-38.5 | Moderate Gale |
| 8 | 34-40 | 38.6-46.6 | Fresh Gale |
| 9 | 41-47 | 46.7-53.9 | Strong Gale |
For most purposes in our region, this can be simplified to three categories Light Wind
(BN #s 0-2), Moderate Wind (BN #s 3-4), and Heavy (BN #s 5+).